DIY: Make your own Rod Leashes

It is really simple to make your own Bungee Rod Leash. Over time using many different types of rod leashes from DIY coiled wire from old cell phone chargers to rope the bungee chord style leashes I have always liked the best.

Things you will need:

1/8″ Bungee Chord

3/8″ DIA. x 3″ L Heat Shrink Tubing with Adhesive cut in half

rod leash (Large)Cut the 1/8″ bungee to any length you would like. I prefer 30″.  Then cut the heat shrink tubing in half. Slide both pieces of the heat shrink tubing on the bungee. This way you don’t forget to slide the second piece on later. Using pliers position the C-Ring Crimp open end out. make 1.5″ loop at the end of the bungee. and place the tag end and the main line into the crimp. Crimp down making the loop permanent. Make sure by pulling on the bungee it does not slide through the crimp. Next slide over one piece of the heat shrink tubing and using a heat gun or lighter shrink the tubing in place. Open the Sea Clamp and close it through the loop. This is your fishing rod connection.

On the other end slide the tag end through the Carabiner eye. Using the same technique as on the other end crimp a loop. Slide the remaining heat shrink tubing and shrink over.

Your DIY bungee rod leash is now complete.

Pimping out my Jackson Cuda 14

The below slides show my custom color Jackson Cuda with the factory black 1/4″ Bungee. Over time the bungee becomes brittle and needs to be replaced. Instead of using the black bungee you may opt for a color bungee to pimp out your kayak!

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The slides below  show the result of the replacement. The tank well will require around 10 feet of 1/4″ bungee chord. The front rod tip protector will require 24″ of 3/16″.

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Completed it does make the boat pop! You can order the colored bungee in different colors and lengths from Hook1 or ebay.

 

DIY Kayak camera mounts were invented as kayak anglers and touring paddlers begun to capture photography and video of their trips to share their point of view with family and friends. With the affordability of waterproof cameras and now the light weight action sports cameras anyone can record their day of fishing, paddling  and with a little time behind a computer and video editing software compile pretty neat short videos of highlights! The following are a few mounts I have used in the past!

The DIY PVC Pipe Camera Mount:

diy-camThe inexpensive way to mount a camera to your kayak. A length of 1/2″ PVC makes for great DIY camera mounts. You have the ability to customize the mount to fit your personal needs. You may not know this but 1/2″ PVC slides loosely with no play right into a Scotty mount with ease. Want it to snug up? A single layer of Gorilla Tape around the portion that will insert into the Scotty mount will snug up nicely.

Using a 1/2″ PVC cap and drilling a hole that will allow a 1/4 – 20 screw will allow the camera to mount directly to its threaded insert. The downside of PVC is the longer the length the more flex the less of a still video image.

Small Camera Tripods:

mini tripodCheap 6″ mini camera tripods are also great due to their pivoting head creates the ability to level out the camera. To mount the mini tripod you can use zip ties mount just about anywhere. You can also remove the leg portion of this tripos and use the pivoting head on the PVC mount above. Simply install it where drilled to accept the 1/4 20 screw.

The Good Old Hat Tripod!

hat camSome Kayak anglers simply drilled a hole through the bill of a baseball cap then ran a 1/4 20 bolt though threaded side up. You now have a head mounted camera on the cheap! These hat cam hats can also be purchased from eBay and Amazon.

 

 

 

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